AS work begins on the £40m transformation of Liverpool’s historic Wolstenholme Square, the company spearheading the project has unveiled plans for a brick-built, warehouse-style hotel overlooking Seel Street.
And while all around is flattened to rubble or Hoxtonised, there is good news for fans of popular Seel Street watering hole The Kazimier Garden which has has revealed it is "very much open for business" and will remain that way for as long as the next 15 years.
The Elliot Group say plans for its £20m hotel, on a “former car park site” it has acquired just up the road in Seel Street - will feature Liverpool’s first rooftop pool and spa.
Our proposed operator is perfect for this neighbourhood, which is funky and intensely urban
It is presently concluding negotiations with a well-known operator, it says, to occupy a 116-room hotel.
“The hotel will offer the city’s first rooftop pool and spa and our proposed operator is perfect for this neighbourhood, which is funky and intensely urban. We expect to conclude negotiations with them shortly.”
However funky and however intensely urban it becomes, the Kazimier Garden last night told Liverpool Confidential it is about to sign a 15-year lease on the vacant parking lot it has occupied since 2012.
It says it hopes the move will end any speculation about its future and confusion among the public that the bar, one of the Ropewalks most popular, closed down at New Year, the same time as the adjoining Kazimier Club, in Wolstenholme Square.
"The Garden is here to stay and we are very much in for the long haul," spokesman Liam Naughton said. "We are due to sign a 15 year lease with our landlord, TJ Thomas/Hope Street Properties."
He added: "We are keen to tell the public that we are open for business...the whole Kazimier club closing has confused the general garden crowd to thinking it is closed too."
The Kazimier Garden, currently open Wednesday to Sunday in February, was spared demolition by Ropewalks developers who saw it as an anchor business for the sort of bars they wanted to attract to the area. "This is not an extension of Concert Square," one said at the time.
About to be flattenedElliot's proposed hotel, designed by Liverpool architects Falconer Chester Hall, would make extensive use of brick to fit in with the neighbouring Georgian and Victorian buildings.
But the designs are still subject to final review, explained Elliot Group’s Elliot Lawless.
“We’re participating in a design workshop with Liverpool City Council this week to test our assumptions and see if we can collectively identify improvements.
“It’s a really interesting design, particularly internally, as it will give the operator the flexibility to offer both single rooms or serviced suites.
The hotel will back on to Wolstenholme Square’s block B and is just twenty yards from a new passageway being created to directly link the square to Seel Street, designed to boost permeability and create more active building frontages.
“Once design discussions have been concluded with Liverpool city council it is expected that a planning application will be submitted in early March,” said the Elliot Group.
As all around changes forever, the Kazimier Garden reveals it is business as usual with the signing of a 15 year leaseThe Wolstenholme Square scheme has seen the demolition of some of the buildings that housed some of Liverpool’s internationally known nightspots, such as Nation and Cream, though Cream is being build as an underground venue as part of the development.
Primarily a residential developer, the Elliot Group currently has projects worth more than £352m in planning and under way in Liverpool, including sites at Heap’s Mill, Queensland Place and Upper Parliament Street.
The company recently announced plans for a £50m development in Liverpool’s Baltic neighbourhood and is currently looking at potential projects in Manchester and Leeds.
Also about to be flattened
